Going to the movies!

(The Canadian Bible Society is honoured to be a part of the recently concluded Canadian International Faith and Family Film Festival. On its first year, the festival aims to showcase and celebrate faith and family based films. This blog post talks about what transpired during the two-day festival and the Awards Show as shared by CBS’ Regional Director for Ontario, Lisa Pak.)

On September 16-17, 2017, I had the privilege of attending the first Canadian International Faith and Family (CIFF) Film Festival. The Canadian Bible Society (CBS) partnered with the film festival, initiated by Canadian actors and film producers Jason Barbeck and Rafael Kalamat. The festival aims to showcase faith and family-inspired films of all kinds—animation, documentaries, feature films, short films. It brings together talented Christian artists who have a passion to see God’s Word creatively expressed and displayed in arts and culture, particularly in film.

As one of the film festival partners, CBS was privileged to participate at the Awards Show on September 17. As a Bible Society representative, it was a great opportunity for me to share with festival goers what we do at the Canadian Bible Society.

In this initial year, a total of 14 “Tower of Faith” Awards were presented to those who demonstrated excellence in their respective categories, namely: Best New Media, Best Animation, Best Short Film, Best Documentary, Best Music Video, Faith Achievement Award, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Lead Actress, Best Lead Actor, Best Director, Best Picture and Lifetime Achievement. (For the complete list of nominees and winners, visit www.cifflix.ca.)

Nominated movies

During the Awards Show, I had the honour of presenting the “Tower of Faith” Award for Best Lead Actress, which went to Lara Jean Chorostecki for her role as Mary in “Joseph and Mary”. Renown Hollywood actor, Nick Mancuso, received the Lifetime Achievement Award. It was inspirational to hear about his faith journey and his desire to see more faith-based films produced.

At the Awards Show

But it wasn’t all watching movies! Our Bible Store was also represented and had the opportunity to interact with ministry colleagues, supporters and customers! For a little bit of fun, we ran a raffle (for a $300 gift basket) which was won by Tara Fletcher from Etobicoke.

The Canadian Bible Society continues to look for meaningful partnerships to create awareness about Bible work in Canada. It is also a part of CBS’ Bible Engagement focus – a part of our ministry that encourages people to read and engage with the Bible every day. Movies, films and stories are very much a part of our lives! A film event like CIFF is a unique opportunity to reach a broader audience with biblical principles and contemporary themes through stories about joy, suffering, pain and victory. It is also an effective way to challenge young adults and youth to know the real and living God through His Word and their personal everyday journeys.

The CIFF Film Festival promises to grow. Festival organizers Jason and Rafael have already begun receiving submissions for CIFF 2018. Plans for next year’s festival (to run for three days) include full-out concerts with various artists. CBS plans to be there; we hope you will, too!

See you at the movies!

Author Photo:

About the Author:

Lisa Pak is CBS’ Ontario Regional Director.

Lisa is an ordained minister of the Korean Association of Independent Churches and Missions with a Master of Divinity and a Master of Biblical Language from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts. She has extensive ministry experience in large congregations in South Korea, Singapore, and Canada. As well, Lisa has established deep relationships with the Asian, African-American, Indian, and Russian communities throughout her years of ministry. She is passionate about mobilizing Canadian young people and "millennials" to become more active in partnerships with those elsewhere to bring the Gospel to all nations.